Out now on Glive Records is the first full album from Russian multi-cross-genre band Arthouse Hours. Originally called Arthouse In Your Waking Hours, in 2011, after a multitude of line-up changes, they released a mini-album called View of Notre Dame. This got them noticed in alternative music circles. And now they’re back, breaking the barriers between Progressive Rock, Heavy Rock, Industrial Metal, and who knows what else.

This is a really strange one. Captain Weird from Weirdmania, Weirdland. I just didn’t know what to make of it at all. Having experienced and enjoyed a veritable plethora of Hard Rock, various genres of Metal, and many cross-overs, such as Pop Punk, Indie and many others – I can honestly say I have never heard anything like this in my life.

The first track, 'One’s Rising', can’t be described as anything but an intro. It has become more common over the last fifteen or twenty years for bands to incorporate a grand musical introduction to the piece, particularly in those sub-genres which involve Symphonic, Speed or Epic Metal. They often have a Celtic, Classical or Operatic feel, and are used to build to a crescendo and steam into the first proper track. This intro meanders without direction and falls flat like a damp squib. The title 'Heavily Assaulted' would lead you to believe this is a high energy brutal onslaught, when in reality, despite being the heaviest track, it is totally uninteresting apart from the riff, the only thing which drives it along.

The remaining three tracks and the outro just phase into annoying background noise. Honestly, at times it felt like lift music for spaced-out art and design students, and other times like some hard to fathom exotic radio station surging and fading and surging again from your guitar amplifier. At best, I think this can be described as Experimental.

Believe me, I have the greatest respect for bands which strive for originality and break the mould, but this CD did nothing for me because I look for energy, excitement, drive, rhythm and melody – and I’m sorry to say this has none of these.

It’s all objective though, and I dare say this goes down well in inner circles, but don’t expect a mainstream audience.

2

Ty Power